A summary of the Baselang Real World Program
If you’ve been waiting for the push you need to finally take your Spanish to a conversational level, you may well have found it with Baselang. In this Baselang review, we provide a comprehensive overview of the Baselang Real World Program.
We’ll start by taking you through what Baselang is and what the benefits of learning Spanish with a tutor actually are, before discussing our experience using the platform and the overall tutor quality. We’ll then assess how conducive this model is to helping you learn Spanish fast and whether this service provides Spanish learners with genuine value for money.
First, see below a quick summary of the Baselang Real World Program inclusions:
👍 Unlimited one-on-one online Spanish classes for $149 per month.
👍 A Choice of over 450 tutors from all over Latin America.
👍 A custom-made Baselang curriculum to follow.
Baselang |
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Effectiveness | Value for Money |
| 5.0 out of 5.0 stars | 5.0 out of 5.0 stars |
| Highly effective at improving speaking skills, listening skills and overall comprehension. | The least expensive option on the market, if you commit to daily classes. |
Ease of Use | Languages |
| 3.5 out of 5.0 stars | 3.0 out of 5.0 stars |
| Simple dashboard. Classes carried out on Zoom. Would be better with its own interface. | Limited to Spanish only. |
✅ Pros | ❌ Cons |
| 👍 Face to face conversations with tutors 👍 Much cheaper than many competitors 👍 Classes can be booked straight away 👍 Includes curriculum & lesson resources | 👎 Tutors from Latin America only 👎 No pricing tier options |
SummaryBaselang is, arguably, the best option on the market for anybody looking to develop their Spanish to a conversational level as quickly as possible. We were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the teaching. The subscription plan encourages users to commit to at least one hour of Spanish every day in order to become conversational within a month. |
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$1 for 1 week of Unlimited Classes |
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How we did this review
In order to make this review as varied and informative as possible, language learners Pete and James tested out Baselang on their own, before sharing their findings.
The scoring system above is determined based on the comparison between Baselang and other similar Spanish learning tools on the market, particularly tutor services. Five stars indicates excellence, whilst a lower star rating indicates room for improvement.
The comments and opinions that you read throughout this review are results of their findings during one week of unlimited Spanish lessons with multiple Spanish tutors.
The factors listed in the review table above are measured in the following ways:
Effectiveness – This is measured by the progress that we were able to make during the time we used the Baselang service, as well as the progress we’d expect to make with a longer timeframe.
Value for money – We compare the cost of the service with similar competitor language learning apps, platforms and courses.
Ease of use – As language learners, user experience plays a large part in whether we keep coming back, resulting in progress. A poor user experience usually leads to a lack of progress.
Languages Available – Offering multiple languages by no means makes an app or language platform better. However, it usually means they’re more popular and capture a wider audience, investing more heavily in the factors above.
Pete:
“Baselang is a solid resource that enabled me to practice my Spanish on a daily basis with native Spanish speakers. The curriculum provided was super useful and included in the $1 sign up fee. The tutors were patient with me and adapted their lessons to my level. All of them are from Venezuela, which is fine, but the accent took me a while to get used to after learning Spanish from Spain.”
James:
“I signed up to a week’s $1 trial of Baselang because I wanted to test out the platform features, the Spanish resources and the level of teaching quality. I’ll get the negatives out of the way – 2 of my 5 tutors had average internet connection. I also don’t like the chat feature on Zoom. Apart from those points, I can’t fault the service. Great, friendly tutors and decent Spanish resources to use as homework.”
What is Baselang?
We start this Baselang review by summarizing what Baselang actually is.
Baselang is a service which provides unlimited one-on-one Spanish classes online with native tutors. Subscribed users benefit from as much Spanish tuition as they like (it is quite literally unlimited).
In addition to this, Baselang provides a full Spanish curriculum to accompany the lessons and a progress chart for Spanish learners to track their journey to conversational fluency.
As specified in the introduction, the service is available on all devices and all new customers receive a 7-day trial for $1.
Baselang promises to get you conversational in Spanish in just three months, providing that you follow its method and dedicate one hour a day to Spanish.
Why learn Spanish with a tutor?
Today, the internet is full of online language resources which allow learners to study Spanish independently. This form of learning certainly has its benefits. Language apps can help you with various aspects of:
✅ Pronunciation
✅ Vocabulary
✅ Grammar
However, they will not improve your communication skills. Improving these skills, and becoming conversational in Spanish, is achievable only through face to face human interaction. That’s where Baselang comes in.
The Quality of the Baselang Spanish Tutors
A few points to note about the Baselang tutors:
✅ Every Baselang tutor possesses the fluency of a native Spanish speaker
✅ The vast majority are Venezuelan
✅ You can switch between tutors or keep the one you want
During our week trial, we found that the quality of the tutors, and the volume of classes you are able to take, makes Baselang pretty unique. Without doubt, it is one of the best online Spanish programs out there to help you start to speak Spanish quickly.
Of course, not all of the tutors are the same. As a student, you can use filters to search for your ideal tutor from a list of hundreds of tutors, as well as provide feedback after each lesson.
Baselang Review – User Experience
Baselang has a simple, user-friendly interface. Every new student receives introductory emails with easy-to-follow prompts, ensuring you familiarize yourself with all the features and functionalities of its system.
Additionally, you’ll find walkthrough videos all over the Baselang website, illustrating how easy it is for students to use filters to find tutors and schedule lessons at different time slots with flexibility.
The Baselang dashboard contains:
✅ Live lessons
✅ Audio lessons
✅ A flashcard tool called Memrise.
As mentioned, you can also switch between tutors and submit feedback after every lesson. Even though the structure of the Baselang curriculum is pre-defined; tutors were willing to accommodate us to define the learning pace.
As a student, this allows you to take your time based on your own level and preferred pace, as well as explore the cross-cultural characteristics of Spanish.
Lesson Content & Structure
The tutors use exchanges, open-ended questions and encouraging reminders to keep you involved in conversations, ensuring that they are relevant to you.
This methodology is a form of immersive training practice, intended to make each and every student think in the Spanish language, rather than translate from English to Spanish.
Lessons are conducted mostly via Zoom, which works on Apple, Android & Windows devices. Whilst Zoom is the default option, there is also an option for students to use Skype or Google Hangouts. This is also the case for Baselang’s main competitor, SpanishVIP.
We contacted the Baselang team to let them know that we prefer using Google Hangouts. They added a note to the student profile so that tutors could conduct classes on there instead of Zoom.
Your learning outcomes from each lesson are automatically updated in a progress chart. This chart is accessible to the tutor, which means that if you decide to change tutor, he or she will be familiar with your level and what you’ve covered already.
The Baselang Curriculum
There is a clear and simple structure to the Baselang curriculum. In order to ensure structure throughout the learning plan, over 150 downloadable PDFs are available on Baselang.
Self-help tools like Memrise, as well as additional audio lessons, can be used by tutors as additional resources throughout your lessons.
So, as a Baselang student, you have unlimited access to a wide range of lesson resources on a variety of topics including pop culture, medicine, travel, tradition and contemporary social issues.
The Baselang curriculum is designed in order to provide students with continuous reinforcement of the language they have learned in previous lessons.
As a student, you can choose to skip academic lessons for a more conversational approach with the tutors.
Interestingly, the curriculum helps students to migrate from English-based instructions to Spanish instructions and Spanish content. This is quite unique to Baselang and a good example of how immersive the program and process is for students.
Baselang uses the Memrise flashcard tool
The Cost: Is Baselang worth the Money?
Baselang is worth every cent of the $149 monthly fee IF you commit to taking regular Spanish classes and make use of the many resources available to you.
Not only do you receive unlimited Spanish classes, but you also get to:
👍 Discover a variety of tutors
👍 Schedule your own learning plan
👍 Distinguish between formal and informal Spanish (including the variations between regions and countries).
Initially, we questioned the $149 fee. Let’s face it, $149 is a lot of money.
However, if you commit to regular conversational practice with the tutors and make use of the resources available then it is actually better value than tutor marketplaces like italki and Preply.
If you are unsure that you can commit to regular Spanish classes, it’s worth signing up for a 7-day free trial. This will enable you to schedule some lessons and access the Baselang curriculum.
What we like:
There are plenty of features which we think make the Baselang Real World Program an excellent option for Spanish learners. To keep this short and concise, we’ll specify the pros which are entirely unique to Baselang.
👍 Try unlimited Spanish classes for a fee of $1.
👍 Option to skip the curriculum for informal interactions.
👍 Schedule classes within 3 minutes.
In addition to these benefits, students can familiarize themselves with native aspects of Spanish first hand through face to face interactions. This is much more advantageous than the computer-generated voice-overs present in most apps.
What we dislike:
Like any language resource, there is room for improvement. Below are some features we think could be addressed.
👎 There could be greater variation in tutor origin. All tutors are from Latin America, but none are from Spain.
👎 No pricing tiers. Whilst the Baselang Real World Program offers good value for money, there is no low budget option or premium model.
Is Baselang the Best Way to Learn Spanish Fast?
Baselang claims that beginners can master Spanish in approximately three and half months if they dedicate 60 minutes to Baselang every day.
So, whether or not the Baselang Real World Program is the best way to learn Spanish fast is dependent on the frequency of your classes, as well as whether or not you use the resources available to you.
There is no doubt that Baselang does provide a platform from which to become conversational in Spanish very quickly. It does this through some of the best online Spanish classes we have come across.
Is Baselang the Best Place to Find an Online Spanish Tutor?
Among market leaders, Baselang is the only online course in Spanish that provides the following benefits:
✅ Unlimited Spanish classes.
✅ A tailored Baselang Spanish curriculum.
✅ Useful learning resources i.e. Spanish Audio course & web-based flashcard learning tool
✅ Easy interface and prompt customer service to aid teachers and students alike.
Our final thoughts on Baselang
Overall, we were impressed with Baselang’s tutors and enjoyed the experience. The concept and execution is great, with punctual tutors that adapt to your needs.
A criticism would be that we’d like to see a broader range of nationalities amongst the tutors, including Castilian Spanish speakers from Spain.
Whilst we really enjoyed our experience with Baselang, this learning style is not for everyone. For this reason, the week’s free trial is a great option for those skeptical of the service.
“The service provided by Baselang is unlike any other online Spanish course, product or immersion program I have come across before. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the teaching. Baselang is, arguably, the best option on the market for anybody looking to develop their Spanish to a conversational level as quickly as possible.”
– James
“The cost of the trial encouraged me to commit to at least one hour of Spanish every day. It’s not yet been a month, but I’m told I should be conversational in Spanish by the end of it! The teachers were patient, my Spanish has improved and I’ve only spent $1…”
– Pete
Baselang offers all users one full week of unlimited Spanish classes for $1. During this time, you can test the tutor quality yourself and decide if the platform is right for you. If it’s not, just end your subscription when your trial finishes. Tap this link to find out more.